06.30.06

What a cool idea. One way to put abortionist out of business is to buy their buildings and then refuse to renew their leases. Cool!!

The pro-life Operation Rescue shut down an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kan., by purchasing the building that housed it and turning the facility into new headquarters and a “memorial to the pre-born.”
The move began when Operation Rescue learned in late April that Central Women’s Services was months behind on its rental payments and that the property was for sale.
The pro-life group quickly made an offer on the building through a third party, stipulating in the contract that the current tenant not be retained.
Later, Operation Rescue learned Central Women’s Services had come up with the back rent after the building had entered escrow and had asked to continue the rental agreement under the new owner.
Under the new contract, however, the abortion clinic was forced to close.
“We have no doubt that if we had not moved quickly to buy that building, this abortion mill would still be in operation today,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.
The clinic had operated under a variety of names since opening in 1983, aborting an estimated 50,000 babies. It drew attention in 1991, when a demonstration there led by Operation Rescue resulted in the arrests of 80 pastors.
Operation Rescue relocated its offices from Southern California to Wichita in 2002 and launched an effort to expose the abortion industry in Kansas. The group says its efforts have resulted in a 16 percent drop in abortions in the state.
Operation Rescue believes the decrease in abortions contributed to Central Women’s Services financial difficulties.
“Any company that loses 16 percent of their business is going to be hurting,” said Newman.
The group previously bought an empty lot next to the clinic where it placed a large billboard warning women of the dangers of abortion. Since the clinic’s closure, the lot has been donated to a crisis pregnancy center called A Better Choice.
“God accomplishes his work through the obedient lives of his people. We believe that God brought us to Wichita to stop abortion, and that closing this mill and reclaiming it for Christ was part of his plan for us,” said Newman. “We are humbled and thankful that he chose to use us in this way.”
Operation Rescue staff member Cheryl Sullenger had an opportunity to see the abortion clinic in May before it closed, during a yard sale of office supplies and equipment. She described it as dingy, cramped and dirty.
After the abortion business moved out, Sullenger got a closer look.
“There was mold, and general filth,” she said. “The carpets outside the abortion rooms were stained with blood, even though it was evident that some effort had been made to clean them. The ceiling nearby was broken. All of the walls were dirty and some were covered with cheap contact paper instead of being properly maintained.”
Newman, Sullenger and Jeff White, who helped Operation Rescue obtain the property, discovered a small closet between the clinic’s two “procedure” rooms. The closet had a sink surrounded by gallon bottles of bleach and drain cleaner.
Operation Rescue says aborted babies once were disposed of in this sink
“Under the sink was one of the biggest garbage disposals I have ever seen,” said Newman. “The entire area had the stench of death. It was the sink where the suction machine bottles were washed. In fact, dried blood could be seen that had seeped out from the metal band that surrounded the sink top. There was a bucket marked ‘biohazard’ next to the sink.
“We were all sickened by the thought of all those thousands of innocent children whose blood had been washed down that sink. It was an experience I will never forget.”
Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” of Roe v. Wade who once ran abortion clinics but now is a pro-life activist, confirmed it once was common practice to put aborted baby remains down such disposals.
“Oh, yes!” she told Newman in a phone call. “And you can’t pour enough bleach down that drain to get rid of the smell.”
Operation Rescue said it has no doubt Central Women’s Services once disposed of the babies this way. More recently, as the group discovered last year, the clinic packaged and delivered the remains by courier to Engineered Recovery Systems in Newton, Kan., where they were “processed” and dumped in a landfill near Kansas City.

I have a prayer request this morning for a good friend, Randy.
Randy has cancer and is going to have to undergo both chemotherapy and radiation therapy soon. He is a Christian, but is in need of both direct healing from God and support of his spirit. I know that God listens to us when we pray. Please pray unceasingly for Randy. Please pray that God will completely heal him and that God will lift him up when he is feeling bad, sick and worn out. Please pray also for his wife and children, that they will feel God’s comfort and protection over them.
Please add him to your prayer list at church and let’s put the power of the internet to good use by collectively praying for Randy.
Thank you for your prayers!
-Steve

A picture depicting Jesus Christ that has hung in a West Virginia high school’s halls for 30 years is the target of a lawsuit by an attorney and former teacher.
Harold Sklar, parent of a former student at Bridgeport High School in Clarksburg, W.Va., petitioned the Harrison County Board of Education to have the portrait removed, contending it violates the so-called separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution, reports the West Virginia Record legal journal.
Following a tie-vote by the school board June 6 that determined the picture would stay, Sklar filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg against the district board, Harrison Superintendent Carl Friebel, Jr. and Bridgeport Principal Lindy Bennett.
Sklar is represented by Washington-based public-interest group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia also is a party in the suit.
“Any portrait of Jesus in a public high school sends the unmistakable message that that school is endorsing Christianity as the official religion of that school,” said Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United.
The lawsuit says: “The Jesus portrait has engendered conflict within the Bridgeport community for years, as school district officials have refused to remove the display and have instead resolutely retained it despite repeated complaints.”
The portrait is the familiar “Head of Christ,” created by Warner Sallman in 1941.
Sklar says he received no response from school officials after his first complaint was filed in 1996.
“The Jesus portrait, which the Harrison County School District displays alone and without any broader context, is a devotional work that constitutes unconstitutional religious expression by the district,” the lawsuit says. “The expenditure of public funds to maintain the Jesus portrait is unconstitutional.”
School officials defend their position on the basis of freedom of speech.
But school board President Sally Cann said the school didn’t have to keep the painting to profess its Christian values. She wanted it removed because she expected a lawsuit, the Charleston Gazette reported.
The Charleston paper said debate over the painting has cause unrest in the community.

I always say to take these claims with a grain of salt. But having said that, I have no doubt that the account of Noah’s Ark and the flood, did happen, and God will show us evidence of this, as well as other Biblical events when He wants to.

A 14-man crew that included evangelical apologist Josh McDowell says it returned from a trek to a mountain in Iran with possible evidence of the remains of Noah’s Ark.
The group, led by explorer Bob Cornuke, found an unusual object perched on a slope 13,120 feet above sea level.
Cornuke, president of the archeological Base Institute and a veteran of nearly 30 expeditions in search of Bible artifacts and locations, said he is cautiously, but enthusiastically, optimistic about the find.Some of the team’s photos can be seen here.
Also on the team were Barry Rand, former CEO of Avis; Boone Powell, former CEO of Baylor Medical Systems; and Arch Bonnema, president of Joshua Financial.
The team returned with video footage of a large black formation, about 400 feet long – the length of the ark, according to the Bible – that looks like rock but bears the image of hundreds of massive, wooden, hand-hewn beams.
Bonnema observed: “These beams not only look like petrified wood, they are so impressive that they look like real wood – this is an amazing discovery that may be the oldest shipwreck in recorded history.”
The team said one piece of the blackened rock is “cut” at 90-degree angle.

Sealed with pitch
Even more intriguing, they said, some of the wood-like rocks tested this week proved to be petrified wood.
It’s noteworthy, they pointed out, that the Bible recounts Noah sealed his ark with pitch, a black substance.
When the retrieved pieces were cut open, a marine fossil was discovered. In the area around the object, the team found thousands of fossilized sea shells, and Cornuke brought back a one-inch thick rock slab replete with fossilized clams.
With the discovery of wood splinters and broken pottery at the remote 15,300-foot level, the team says it also found evidence that ancients considered it an important worship site for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Cornuke became involved in the search for the ark after meeting Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin, participating with him in several searches on Mount Ararat in Turkey, but with disappointing results.
Cornuke began looking elsewhere, after finding clues in the Bible such as Genesis 11’s reference to descendants of Noah coming to the Mesopotamian valley from the east. Cornuke believes that would put the biblical mountains of Ararat somewhere in northern Iran.
He also points to ancient historians such as Nicholas of Damascus and Flavius Josephus who wrote, just before and after Christ, that timbers of the ark had survived in the higher mountains of present-day Iran.
Cornuke noted that during World War II, an American Army officer and road construction engineer in Iran named Ed Davis said he saw the ark on a high mountain in the country after being led there by Iranian friends. After the war, according to Cornuke, Davis passed a lie detector test affirming he saw timbers from an ark-like object.
Before his death, Davis gave Cornuke a map showing the way to the object.
“It was right where Ed said it was in his map,” Cornuke said. “After seeing it from a distance, I thought it at first unimpressive, but once we stood on the object we were all amazed at how it looked just like a huge pile of black and brown stone beams.”

This type of thing makes me see red!! A memo issued last month by the Lake County Cooperative Extension Service says prayer is forbidden at all times, including to “begin or close meetings, fundraisers, camp sessions, including meals, and/or award ceremonies.” Check out this comment from the Stan Sims, the County Extension director: “We want to respect peoples’ beliefs and be inclusive.”

“Inclusive”??? How on earth is forbidding a whole group of people from practicing their constitutionally protected Freedom of Speech, “inclusive”?? Only an anti-Christian liberal could think that excluding people is “inclusive”.

(AgapePress) – An Indiana pro-family group is objecting to a ban on prayer at 4-H meetings in one county.
A memo issued last month by the Lake County Cooperative Extension Service says prayer is forbidden at all times, including to “begin or close meetings, fundraisers, camp sessions, including meals, and/or award ceremonies.” Stan Sims, the County Extension director, says he issued the directive because “We want to respect peoples’ beliefs and be inclusive.”
But Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana, says Sims is not being inclusive of people of faith — nor of most people in the Hoosier State, who Clark says support “things like having ‘under God’ in the Pledge and ‘in God we trust’ on our money.”
Clark notes recent activity as proof of his claim. “We just created in Indiana an ‘In God We Trust’ license plate that will be available next year, and they’re expecting to sell tens of thousands of them from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles,” the family activist says. “Indiana is very tolerant of religion — but we’re also very respectful of faith and of God in general.”
Most Hoosiers, he contends, have no problem with prayer in public schools and at sporting events like the Indianapolis 500. “People are not offended by prayer,” Clark states. And while he acknowledges there may be a “radical minority” that is “very intolerant of religion,” the AFA of Indiana leader that is not the case generally.
“[T]he vast majority of Hoosiers, people in Indiana and the Midwest, support prayer and the right to pray,” Clark maintains. “I think this is a very poor move, and I think it will offend a lot of families in Indiana.”
The formal prayers had been a tradition at various events, including 4-H, which has more than 800 youth members in Lake County.

For those who do not know, Eliyahu Asheri was the young Israeli settler who was kidnapped and murdered by the slimy pali Holy Land occupiers last Sunday (June 25). Read this insightful article about him by Fern Sidman.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ELIYAHU PINCHAS ASHERI, ZTK”L

BY: FERN SIDMAN

On this day, June 29th, 2006, the 3rd day of Tammuz 5766, the nation of Israel buried a true Eved Elokim, a faithful servant of the Almighty G-d of Israel. Today thousands of Jews across the State of Israel attended the funeral of 18 year old Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri, ZTK”L, the yeshiva student from the settlement of Itamar who was kidnapped and murdered by Arab terrorists. Asheri, a student at the pre-military yeshiva academy in N’vei Tzuf in the western Binyamin region was last seen at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. He was hitching a ride to his yeshiva in N’vei Tzuf.

His parents, Yitro and Miriam Asheri reported him missing on Monday, but according to reports from the IDF he had already been murdered by that time. According to Arutz Sheva, “A Ramallah Tanzim terror cell, taking orders from the Gaza headquarters of the Popular Resistance Committee, carried out the kidnapping and murdered of pre-military Torah academy student Eliyahu Asheri, according to the IDF.”

The report went on to say, “Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri, z’l, died immediately when he was kidnapped on Sunday, according to OC Central Commander Yair Naveh. Naveh told reporters at a briefing on Thursday that the 18-year-old victim was not kept alive, as claimed by the terrorist group that abducted him, but was “without a doubt murdered immediately.”
Popular Resistance Committees terrorists claimed they had kept Asheri alive until Tuesday while considering the possibility of holding him for ransom. Said Naveh, “They had absolutely no intention to hold negotiations.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, (6/27/06), “On Wednesday, elite police and IDF forces arrested Popular Resistance Committees operative Osam Abu Rajil, who was suspected to have been involved in the kidnapping. Abu Rajil led the forces to a mountainside north of Ramallah, where Asheri’s body was found buried, Army Radio reported. Naveh confirmed Thursday that Abu Rajil was personally involved in the kidnapping.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Hamas-affiliated PRC told Al-Jazeera that Asheri would be “butchered in front of TV cameras” if the IDF operation in Gaza did not stop. “Our patience is running out,” he said. “I am announcing for the first time that the kidnapped Zionist Israel is searching for is the same settler who is being held by us. He is aged 18-1⁄2… and is a soldier in a pre-military academy,” said the spokesman, who identified himself as Abu Abir.”

In addition, Arutz Sheva reported that, “The IDF did not say whether the assault rifles which the Olmert government and the United States transferred to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, (Abu Mazen) earlier this month were used at any point in the kidnapping or murder. WorldNetDaily reported in the name of “sources close to the Al Aqsa Brigades” that the guns had been used in two separate shooting attacks against Israelis within days of the transfer.”

Roads in Jerusalem were closed in honor of the funeral, which is to end with the youth’s burial in the Mt. of Olives cemetery. Eliyahu’s teachers and family, one after the other, spoke about what a sweet person he was. Over and over it was mentioned that Eliyahu’s prayers were “like fire.”

“You went up to Heaven in a storm, like Eliyahu (Elijah) the prophet,” Eliyahu’s mother Miriam eulogized, in a calm and determined voice. “Now, Eliyahu – stand before G-d and speak out in favor of the Nation of Israel – don’t let up until our Father in Heaven agrees to reveal Himself to His people.”

Yitro Asheri spoke of his son, recalling that he would always sit in their home and make peace between his siblings. “When you get to Heaven,” the Australian immigrant said, addressing his son, “make peace within our people and between the Nation of Israel and our Father in Heaven.”

Asheri added that the world has much less prayer in it now that Eliyahu is gone and implored all of Israel to “Pray! Pray – because you are righteous and G-d desires your prayers.”

Eliyahu’s mother Miriam told Voice of Israel Radio this morning, “At this time, I do have not much to say, for the pain is so unbearable; I can barely find a way to hold it. But one thing I can say is that many times in the past years, because of the many disagreements-between-brothers we have in this country, many times I asked G-d to give me, first of all, love in my heart for everyone. And now, following this terrible thing that happened to us, it has become clear to me how really great the Nation of Israel is – how much help we have received, and all the volunteers, and the army – there are no words to describe it… And this was the way of Eliyahu as well…”

Rabbi Chaim Druckman, the national head of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot movement and Eliyahu’s adopted grandfather, said at the funeral that sometimes funerals are like sunsets, but that Eliyahu’s passing is like the sun going dark at noontime. “This is not just a private funeral, but one belonging to all of Israel,” he said. “His murderers intended to kill any one of us and all of us.”

Rabbi Avi Ronski, the Rabbi of Itamar and the man who has been tapped to become the next Chief Rabbi of the IDF, said at the funeral, “It is now clear that they murdered Eliyahu very soon after they kidnapped him, and all their announcements and threats afterwards were merely psychological pressure against us.”

The murder of Eliyahu Asheri comes on the heels of a Hamas terrorist attack several days ago when a Hamas 8-man force crawled through an underground tunnel into Israel, lobbing grenades and bombs at a military outpost killing two IDF soldiers, Lt. Hanan Barak, 20, from Arad and Sgt. Pavel Slutzker, 20 from Dimona A third soldier, Corp. Gilead Shalit from Mitzpe Hila was kidnapped.

The kidnapping of Corp. Shalit, prompted the IDF to launch its “Operation Summer Rains” offensive Wednesday with the entry of Israeli forces into Southern Gaza. The stated goal: The release of kidnapped solider Gilad Shalit.

In addition to knocking out electricity in much of Gaza, the operation has included an aerial missile attack on an electricity station south of Gaza City, aerial attacks on three bridges in the central Gaza Strip, over dry river beds, artillery fire at open areas in the southern Gaza Strip and entry of armored forces into the Dahaniya area, mainly the abandoned airport, where the IDF has set up a headquarters. This area represents a strategic control and observation point over the southern Gaza Strip.

In response to the murder and kidnapping, Israeli forces arrested one-third of the Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet and 20 lawmakers early Thursday and pressed their incursion into Gaza.

Today is a day of tremendous grief and mourning for the family and friends of Eliyahu Asheri. It is also a day of mourning for the entire nation of Israel. It is not easy to forget a day on which a young Jew was buried. A young Jew, heinously murdered by Arab savages. A Jew who feared G-d and walked in the way of his ancestors, in the way of Hashem’s holy Torah.
It will be difficult to forget the looks of profound grief and misery etched on the faces of his parents, his siblings, his friends and neighbors. The murder of Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri was the murder of a part of each and every one of us. For the murder of Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri could have been the murder of our own son or brother. Ask any parent that has lost a child and they will tell you that they never get up from sitting shiva. The sadness and despair is all consuming and does not diminish with the passing of time.

We are commanded by the Almighty G-d of Israel to be our brother’s keeper, for we are all one nation, a collective body and soul. When one of us grieves and suffers, we all grieve and we all suffer. Today we have lost a brother and our tears flow freely and without respite. And we ask, why was Eliyahu Asheri murdered? Why was it he that had to spend his last moments on this earth as a captive of barbaric Arab terrorists who have no respect for the sanctity of life?

We may never know the answer, however we do know that the blood of Eliyahu Asheri is on the hands of those who control the government of Israel. Of those who aid and abet Arab terrorists by evacuating thousands of Jews from their homes in Gush Katif and who plan to uproot more Jewish settlements in the ultimate goal of creating “peace” with our Arab enemy. The blood of Eliyahu Asheri is on the hands of those in the government of Israel who transfer thousands of assault rifles and a million rounds of ammunition into the hands who those who seek our destruction.

We can blame a government of Israel who oppresses the free speech of Jews who oppose the Olmert convergence-realignment plan. We can point our fingers in outrage and indignation at a government who is bent on national suicide. A government comprised of spiritually bankrupt leaders that lead us to believe that genuine and long lasting “peace” can come to fruition with an enemy that has sworn our destruction. An enemy who interprets territorial compromise and conciliation as acts of weakness and surrender and who respond with even more contempt and disdain.

It is true that the government of Israel is one that is devoid of belief and faith, true belief and faith in the G-d of Israel and Torah. It is a government that has elevated the concepts of a westernized democracy into their own personal god. A government that displays a callous disregard when Jewish blood is spilled. We must express our anger and our outrage and rise up in indignation at the actions of a government who is responsible for the murder of our brother, Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri. For Eliyahu’s murder can be harbinger for the potential murders of our own brothers.

Let us raise our collective voices in prayer and supplication to the Almighty G-d of Israel. Let us plead with Hashem to give us the strength, courage, fortitude and tenacity to oppose a government that does not protect its people. Let us beseech the Almighty to provide comfort, strength and courage to the Asheri family and to all of the nation of Israel, for on this day, a part of each and every one of us has died.

06.29.06

It is unbelievable to me the many ways Satan uses the name of God to work evil. The leader (notice I didnt use the term Pastor) of this church is a vessel of Satan and he is not of God. His agenda is one of hate and self-righteousness – both of which God despises. I pray for the families of these soldiers that gave their lives in service to our country. These men paid the ulitimate price so that we can live without fear. Their funeral services should be a time to honor them and comfort their families, but this nutty Kansas man and his cronies are turning it in to a free-for-all. Satan loves this type of thing – these people are making him look good, while making God out to be an angry monster. Dont be deceived, God is loving and He does not approve of this type of activity.

The controversial Westboro Baptist Church will bring its message of an “angry God” to Fort Campbell next month as church members picket the ceremony where Pfc. Thomas Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca will be among those remembered.

The protest begins at 7 p.m. July 12 at the Main Fort Gate in Oak Grove, Ky.

On the second Wednesday of each month, Fort Campbell holds the Eagle Remembrance Ceremony, a tribute to fallen Screaming Eagles.

Members of the 101st Airborne Division, Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., and Menchaca, 23, of Houston were abducted south of Baghdad, Iraq. Their bodies were recovered June 20 near a power plant in Youssifiyah, where they had been manning a vehicle checkpoint that was attacked. The soldiers reportedly were beheaded after being tortured, according to officials.

In a statement released last night, the Westboro church based in Topeka, Kan., wrote: “They died at the hands of an angry God in His retaliatory wrath in punishing America’s godless military for their violent persecution of Westboro Baptist Church for preaching the truth to America about her abominations.”

In March, Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed into law a bill that prevents protesters from disrupting funerals, burials or memorial services.

The law declares protesters within 300 feet of any funeral service guilty of first-degree disorderly conduct, punishable by up to a year in jail. It also prohibits protesters from using bullhorns at funerals.

(AgapePress) – A constitutional attorney says school districts often employ a double-standard when making religious accommodations for students.
Last week The Washington Post reported that the Howard County (Maryland) School Board may continue a policy that has allowed Muslim students to leave school 20 minutes early on Fridays to attend prayer services. Opponents of the policy say the students are missing too much instruction time over the course of a year. But Joshua M. Kaufman, chairman of the Howard County Board of Education, told The Post that “constitutionally, we are obligated to make reasonable accommodation to those who wish to practice their religion.”
Steve Crampton, chief counsel at the American Family Association’s Center for Law & Policy, says there is a great deal of irony involved in the situation.
“For the first time perhaps, the public schools are starting to actually put teeth into the constitutional requirement that they make reasonable accommodations for the practice of religion,” Crampton points out. “The irony, of course, is that if this was a Christian bunch asking to leave because they had a Bible study or something, they would be roundly ignored or flatly refused.”
Crampton says this may be a prime opportunity for Christians to push for religious instruction in district schools, as Howard County may have no choice but to make similar accommodations for Christian students.
“Back in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court [in Zorach v. Clauson] faced a situation in which public school students were allowed to leave campus to receive explicit Christian religious instruction,” the attorney notes, “and the school upheld the practice under the so-called ‘released time’ program.”
In fact, high school students in South Carolina now receive academic credit for off-campus religion classes. The South Carolina Released Time Credit Act was signed into law in early June by Governor Mark Sanford. The act states that “the free exercise of religion is important to the intellectual, moral, civic, and ethical development of students” in the state.

This is a sad situation. Why the leadership of the Episcopal Church can’t see what their support of homosexuality, against the teaching of the Bible, by the way, is doing to their fellowship is beyond me. At least the U.S. churches have a recourse by being able to withdraw from the Episcopal Church.

(CNSNews.com) – The head of the worldwide Anglican Church has laid out a proposal aimed at keeping the fractious denomination together by means of a two-tier structure of conservatives and liberals, but a leading conservative archbishop says the church is already divided.
This week, several U.S. dioceses began a process of withdrawing from Anglicanism’s liberal American branch, the Episcopal Church (ECUSA).
Differences over homosexuality have triggered one of the most severe crises in the history of the 77 million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, whose roots predate the Reformation.
ECUSA in 2003 consecrated an openly homosexual clergyman as bishop of New Hampshire, and some Canadian dioceses agreed to bless same-sex unions.
Earlier this month, ECUSA’s general convention in Ohio failed to adopt high-level recommendations to repent and declare a moratorium on the ordination of practicing homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions.

Even ignoring the Biblical aspect of the withdraws, we have already seen that it hurts Israel security rather than helping it.

KIBBUTZ NAHAL OZ, Israel – A group of prominent rabbis is calling on President Bush to refuse political and financial support for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan to evacuate most of Judea and Samaria, stating the withdrawal is against U.S. interests, and that it violates basic tenets of Jewish law.
“U.S. interests are being impacted by Israel’s proposed retreat from terrorist strongholds in Judea and Samaria. In addition, as rabbis our obligation is to teach, guide, and lead our congregations to conduct their daily lives in accordance with Jewish Law. This holds especially true in a matter of life or death threatening the residents of Israel,” stated a letter sent to Bush and signed by leaders of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of over 1200 rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.
Congress members include some of the most esteemed Orthodox rabbis in the Jewish world.
Olmert is attempting to push through a withdrawal from most of Judea and Samaria, mountainous territory that is within rocket firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel’s international airport. The territory is also commonly called the West Bank.
The rabbis point out in their letter to Bush that villages slated for withdrawal from Judea and Samaria are mentioned throughout the Torah.
They state a withdrawal from the area violates Jewish law because an evacuation will lead to massive violence.
“There is a clear definitive ruling in the Jewish Code of Law ‘Orach Chaim’ Chapter 329 which rules that it is strictly forbidden to give up even one inch of a Jewish border town to foreigners because it will lead to bloodshed. How much more so regarding retreating from holy land that enemies bent on your destruction have already stated will be used to launch attacks against Jews,” states the letter to Bush.
The rabbis wrote to Bush that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza last summer has already impacted regional U.S. interests and that Olmert’s proposed Judea and Samaria evacuation will have “disastrous” consequences for the American-led war on terror.
“Israel’s 2005 retreat from Gaza has been perceived as a cave-in by the role-model of counter-terrorism. It paved the road to Hamas’ electoral victory and upgraded the posture of Islamic Jihad and al-Qaida, thus providing friendly platforms for Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and the pro-Saddam elements. The Gaza retreat has established the largest terrorist base in the Middle East, threatening accelerated anti-U.S. terrorism.
“Bolstering the Palestinian profile by enforcing a withdrawal in Judea and Samaria constitutes a present and immediate lethal danger to pro-U.S. regimes in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states and will establish an enormous terror sanctuary threatening US troops in the Gulf area. It would also undermine Israel’s posture of deterrence, which is critical to the enhancement of regional stability.”
The rabbis urged Bush against “morally or financially supporting Israel’s disastrous withdrawal plan.”

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – The abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian terrorist groups is putting the Hamas-led government to the test and could bring about the collapse of Hamas altogether, the former head of Israel’s secret service said.
Izzadine al-Qassam (the military wing of Hamas) and two other groups took part in a well-planned assault on an Israeli army outpost along the Israeli-Gaza border on Sunday. Two soldiers were killed, four wounded and Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped and taken back into the Gaza Strip.
The incident highlights a growing rift within the Hamas movement. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and P.A. Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar reportedly were working to free Shalit. But Israel blames the Damascus-based “political” leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, for giving the orders to attack the outpost and abduct a soldier.
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said that Hamas has two leaders – and the ones in the Palestinian areas are not controlling the situation. “There are apparently two headquarters — one here, one in Syria…and the leaders who reside here, or in the West Bank or Gaza, are totally helpless,” said Peres in an interview with CNN.
The leaders in Palestinian areas “apparently didn’t give the order to capture the soldier but they are also incapable of releasing him,” Peres said.
The former chief of the Israeli secret service, Ephraim HaLevy, called this is the moment of truth for Hamas – a moment that could bring about the organization’s collapse if its leaders make the wrong decisions.
“The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian national movement is facing its ultimate moment of truth,” HaLevy told diplomats and journalists at the Institute for Contemporary Affairs in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The question is whether the Palestinian national movement has the power to create a viable structure of government and chain of command, said HaLevy.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian cabinet ministers and legislators from the Islamic Hamas, increasing pressure on militants to release a captured Israeli soldier and witnesses said tanks moved into northern Gaza, widening Israel’s largest military operation in the year since Israel pulled out of the seaside territory.
Adding to the tension, a Palestinian militant group said it executed an 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israeli security officials said Eliahu Asheri’s body was found buried near Ramallah. They said he was shot in the head, apparently soon after he was abducted Sunday.
Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained Palestinian deputy prime minister Nasser Shaer and three other cabinet ministers, as well as four legislators in Ramallah. Two others were arrested in the town Jenin they said and Israeli news media reported a roundup of Hamas legislators in Jerusalem and other locations. More than 30 legislators were detained, Palestinian security officials said.
Army Radio said the arrested Hamas leaders might be used to trade for the captured soldier. Israel had refused earlier to trade prisoners for the soldier’s release.

Now apparently it’s discrimination for private businesses to play Christian music. Someone might feel left out or have their ears burned by the message of salvation. This is happening to a skate center in New York. They are being investigated for having a Christian skate time during which they play Christian music. Now let me add here, they are not excluding anyone from the skate time, they are only playing Christian music during that time.
The New York State Division of Human Rights is investigating them for this.
This type of thing really gets me angry. Where does it say in the Constitution that people have the right not to be offended by something? Guess what? It’s not in there. Where does it say in the Constitution that one group has to give up its rights because another group is offended? Guess what? It’s not in there either!

(AgapePress) – The New York State Division of Human Rights has begun a probe of a privately owned skating rink that recently advertised a “Christian Music Skate” party. The agency is investigating Len Bernardo and his wife Terry, owners of Skate Time 209 in Accord, New York, apparently because the rink plays Christian music during certain designated hours.
The Division of Human Rights has warned the rink, which also advertises Christian skating on Sunday afternoons, that it may be violating anti-discrimination laws. The agency also threatened to charge a local weekly newspaper that published the rink’s advertisement of its Christian music skate with “aiding and abetting” unlawful discrimination. However, pro-family supporters of the rink and its proprietors contend that if anyone is violating the law, it is the government agency.
Len Bernardo says he was contacted by state authorities after his rink’s “Christian skate” event was advertised in the local paper. However, he insists he has done nothing wrong and that the authorities are “just investigating to see if we are in fact, I guess, discriminating against people who don’t like Christian music, I assume, or [who don’t like] the fact that we’re having Christian skate.”
Last week, a complaint about the rink’s newspaper ad prompted a letter from the New York State Division of Human Rights. According to Newsday.com, the letter reportedly stated that by soliciting Christian skaters, Skate Time 209 was apparently discouraging non-Christian customers in violation of human rights laws.
Bernardo suspects the Division of Human Rights officials have been laboring under a misapprehension. “We’ve never denied anybody access to the facility during our Christian skate,” he says. “They’re saying perhaps we are doing that because we’re playing Christian music.”
In an effort to clarify things, the owners of Skate Time 209 have changed the wording of one newspaper ad from “Christian skate” to “spiritual skate.” Still, Bernardo points out, as the owners, they have every right to play the kind of music they want at their rink.
“We are a private business,” the Christian proprietor says. And the afternoon “Christian skate” is just another program, he insists, just like teen night or family night — a time during which wholesome, contemporary Christian music is played and all — Christian and non-Christian alike — are welcome to come and enjoy it.
And while Bernardo acknowledges that “the other side of the coin is that the state has to react to any complaint that they get,” he says he and Terry are only exercising their basic constitutional rights. That is why they had their lawyer send a letter to the state making it clear that “these are traditional type things, we’re not discriminating against anyone, and anyone’s allowed access,” he says.
“So now we have to kind of see where it goes,” Bernardo notes. “And chances are, we believe, it will go away,” he adds, “but we still have to defend our rights and our First Amendment rights to have a Christian skate.”
The American Center for Law & Justice is representing the skating rink owners in the matter. Meanwhile, the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) has asked New York’s Governor George Pataki to take authority over the investigation and put a stop to the state’s “harassment” of the couple.
TVC chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon says the Division of Human Rights’ threat of legal action against Skate Time 209’s owners is crazy. “These people are exercising basic Constitutional rights on private property to the exclusion of no one, and the state government is treating them like dangerous criminals,” he says.

06.28.06

What people have not yet figured out is that a war on terror is unlike any other war we have waged. The terrorist do not a standing army that we can defeat. They blend in with civilians, often times using them as “human shields” in order to avoid exposure.
As the quote from the article says:“…the newspaper can’t have it both ways: ‘On the one hand, they’re saying, ‘We had to go public because it was so secret.’ But now they’re saying there’s no harm in going public because everybody knew about it.’”
In their liberal minds, there’s no problem with assisting terrorist in order to make President Bush look bad. I do believe this is treason, and I would like to see it prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

(CNSNews.com) – Amid the uproar over the New York Times publishing reports about a secret — but legal — anti-terrorism program intended to track the global movement of terrorist funds, the newspaper’s editorial board on Wednesday defended the newpaper’s decision to publish the story.
In a nutshell, the editorial argued:
— that the New York Times is accustomed to being criticized for doing its job. (As the editorial put it, “Over the last year, The New York Times has twice published reports about secret antiterrorism programs being run by the Bush administration. Both times, critics have claimed that the paper was being unpatriotic or even aiding the terrorists.”)
— that publication of the story did not put any specific person in danger. (Editorial: “The…story bears no resemblance to security breaches, like disclosure of troop locations, that would clearly compromise the immediate safety of specific individuals.”)
— that terror groups should have known all along that their money transfers were being watched. (“Terrorist groups would have had to be fairly credulous not to suspect that they would be subject to scrutiny if they moved money around through international wire transfers,” the editorial said.)

Recently, sister Tam Thompson of Texas sent me a copy of a letter she has mailed to the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefforts Schori. Needless to say, her letter touched my heart as it is demonstrative of the pain many Christians today are feeling as various church denominations are abandoning biblical principles right and left, many of them to the extent there’s hardly any doctrinal truth left within them! If not at the top of the list, the Episcopal Church, which Tam Thompson is a member of (for now at least), is very close in this regard.

Dear Bishop Schori,
I am writing to you with a torn heart. I am a lifelong Episcopalian, baptized at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, and most recently a parishioner of St. Michael’s of All Angels in Blanco, Texas.

I have been following your election as Presiding Bishop as well as your public statement that homosexuality is not a sin. I have also read Bishop Gene Robinson’s recent statement that, “I am not an abomination.”

What I’m not hearing is any distinction drawn between the sinner and the sin—and any condemnation of homosexual behavior as the sin that it is. As you well know, we are all sinners, and I don’t condemn anyone for their preference or feelings—we can’t help what we feel. I have sinned as much as anyone and I sincerely repent of it. And since I’m human, I will no doubt sin in the future. But I pray I will recognize it, stop it, repent of it, and go forth and sin no more.

I don’t see this recognition, cessation, and repentance from Bishop Robinson, nor do I hear you calling for it. And I should. We are called by God to love our neighbors, but we are also called to be righteous and to adhere to sound doctrine and shun false teachings. The fact that the practice of homosexuality is a sin should never be used as a pretense for persecution of gays and lesbians…but by the same token, the possibility of persecution should not be used as an excuse to permit sin to go un-rebuked. It is part of your job to rebuke sin.

I know what I’m talking about here. I was a lesbian for 15 years…and then I prayed to the Lord and he changed my heart. It was truly a miracle. Change can happen—all things are possible with God.

But even though my heart was miraculously changed, I do understand that we often can’t help our inclinations, orientations, or our feelings. What we can help, and what I do not see you addressing, are behaviors and actions. I am not going to quote scripture to you since you no doubt know it better than I, but you know that homosexual behavior is a sin. It’s in the Old and New Testaments.

Somewhere along the way, the Episcopal Church—in an effort to be all things to all people, to not give offense, and to be politically correct—has bundled together the concept of loving the sinner with loving and celebrating the sin itself. The thinking has become, “If we welcome homosexuals into our churches, we must also welcome their sex lives.”

This is wrong. It is against scripture. It is against God.

And where does it end? What’s next? At the next Convention, will the Episcopal Church say, “Most marriages don’t last anymore, so now adultery is not a sin?” Or perhaps: “Since the U.S. Supreme Court has pretty much abolished the concept of private property with the Kelo eminent domain decision that lets private developers take your land, stealing is now no longer a sin?”

Where does it end?

I do not want to be on the wrong side of God so I am taking a stand right now.

I am calling upon you in the name of God the Father and Jesus Christ of Nazareth and of the Holy Spirit who lives within all of us Christians to change your stance and renounce all sin—including homosexual practice. Let me be very clear: I am not saying to shun homosexuals, since all of us are sinners—me, too. I am talking about actions—the action of sin.

If I do not see this done, I will have to leave the Episcopal Church. I will not support doctrine which directly contradicts scripture and goes against God. And honestly, it wouldn’t really be me leaving the Episcopal Church so much as it is the Episcopal Church leaving me.

I do not want to have to answer to God for supporting apostasy and you shouldn’t either.

Please consider what I have asked of you in prayer and feel free to contact me if you wish to talk with me. I will pray for you and for our church.

Your sister in Christ,

Tam Thompson

Praise the Lord for sister Thompson’s faithfulness in writing to her Bishop, as well as her testimony presented in this instance. Herself a practicing lesbian for 15 years, Tam turned her life over to Jesus Christ and was changed! Now, in support of the Word of God, Tam is standing up against what she once practiced herself – homosexuality. Does faith in Christ as Lord and Savior change lives or what?

Another recent example of the Episcopal Church’s downhill slide, which sister Tam Thompson’s letter doesn’t even touch on, is found in an article by VirtueOnline. The opening paragraph reads as follows (emphasis added mine):

The House of Deputies of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church today overwhelmingly refused to even consider a resolution that affirmed Jesus Christ as the “only name by which any person may be saved.”

A subsequent paragraph within the same article details the content of the proposed resolution, clearly demonstrating just how apostate the Episcopal Church has become (emphasis added mine):

Drafted by the Rev. Guido Verbeck, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Western Louisiana, Resolution D058 declared the Episcopal Church’s belief in an “unchanging commitment to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the only name by which any person may be saved,” and it acknowledged evangelism as “the solemn responsibility placed upon us to share Christ with all persons when we hear His words, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No-one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14:6).”

What kind of Christian church overwhelmingly rejects Jesus Christ as the only name by which any person may be saved? Aren’t we told, in both John 14:6 above, as well as Acts 4:12, that this is an undeniable truth of the Christian faith? Of course we are!

The article quotes one of the liberals responsible for the resolution being discharged, a Rev. McDowell of the Diocese of North Carolina, as saying that how one lives his life is the more important issue than whether one affirms Jesus as Lord.

Further, McDowell said the essence of “self-righteousness” is to place a statement of belief over actions. Reverend McDowell obviously believes in a works-based form of salvation, which is assuredly outside the teaching of Scripture!

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

I have a newsflash for Reverend McDowell and anyone who would buy into logic such as his: How one “lives his life” isn’t going to have a thing to do with where one spends eternity! That is determined solely by one’s relationship with JESUS CHRIST — or lack thereof! Period.

I hope everyone who reads this commentary will remember Tam Thompson in prayer, as well as everyone else who is watching helplessly as churches they have long been associated with toss God’s commands aside as though they are irrelevant in today’s politically correct world.

The apostates who are taking over many churches today are so bold, as seen in this instance, they’re throwing Jesus Christ Himself aside! God help those who are remaining in these churches and being shepherded by these wolves in sheep’s clothing!

In closing, I want to quote two Episcopal leaders quoted in the Virtue Online article whose words were, for me, heart-wrenching to read:

Reverend Donald Perschall, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Centralia, Illinois: “On top of leaving the Anglican Communion, we’ve decided to leave Jesus Christ behind as well.”

Dr. Michael Howell of the Diocese of Southwestern Florida: “This clearly shows that we are of a mind that does not affirm Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And we should not be surprised that our church is dying spiritually.”

70.5% of those who voted on the topic of considering the resolution affirming Jesus Christ as Lord voted against it, leaving only 29.5% in favor of affirming Christ as Savior! The Episcopal Church is, at this point, shamefully apostate, but I don’t want it to seem that this commentary is exclusively critical of the Episcopals. The Presbyterian Church isn’t much better, having encouraged divestment against Israel in recent years, as well as, most recently, opening its doors to gay clergy, as seen in a Reuters article. And the list goes on, of course.

What we’re seeing take place in each of these examples, as painful as it is for all of us who are striving to hold the line for Christ in these end times to see, is literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy, specifically end times Bible prophecy! If there’s any good news to be found in a commentary like this, it’s that this type of apostasy proves Jesus is coming again — and soon!

1st Timothy 4:1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

06.27.06

A Plano congregation has decided to secede from the Episcopal church. It is a strong statement regarding the recent events surrounding the church, but it is a statement that must be made. It is my prayer that this congregation will be one of many who decide to side with God instead of satan. The Episcopal church (and I use the term “church” loosely) can approve of homosexuality and all other forms of sin if they so choose, but ultimately God will not be mocked no matter what the bishops decide.

PLANO — Christ Church Episcopal has announced that it will leave the denomination because it can no longer abide by the national church’s decisions.

Leaders of the conservative Plano congregation announced their plan Monday, a week after the Episcopal Church elected Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as its first female presiding bishop.

Jefferts Schori supported the 2003 consecration of V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. She also supported the creation of locally authorized blessings for gay unions.

“The mission of Christ Church is to make disciples and teach them to obey the commands of Christ,” said a statement approved by Christ Church’s leaders this weekend. “The direction of the leadership of the Episcopal Church is different and we regret their departure from biblical truth and the historic faith of the Anglican Communion. … We declare our intention to disassociate from ECUSA as soon as possible.”

Is it just me, or does the title Reverend seem ill-fitting for Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? It seems that this famous brain-trust has come up with the idea to go on tour to oppose the conservative Christian agenda. They seem to think that affirmative action (imagine that) and voters’ rights are much more important than the killing of babies or gay marriage. It is my opinion that Sharpton and Jackson are more interested in boosting their own fame and bank accounts than they are in actually helping our country. I am not sure how Al Sharpton came to be on CNN and Fox every night, but Jesse Jackson needs to realize that a failed run for president does not a celebrity make. Seriously, am I the only one who thinks he is a lunatic? His agenda is anything but Godly as his title suggests. Mr. Jackson needs to take his Rainbow Coalition and “Push” it somewhere else!!!

DALLAS – Prominent black leaders said Monday they will organize against Christian conservatives they say have used gay marriage and abortion to distract from larger moral issues such as the war, voting rights, affirmative action and poverty.

The Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Joseph Lowery and hundreds of black leaders from around the country are focusing on mobilizing black voters for the fall elections. They kicked off a three-day black clergy conference Monday in Dallas.

“There are no gay people coming to our churches asking to get married, but there are plenty of people coming with problems voting or their sons in jail,” Sharpton said. “I am not going to sit here silently and let these leaders distort our church with these issues.”

Sharpton said tours are planned of swing states starting in July to bring out black voters and push Democrats to take a tougher stand on social justice issues.

Jackson said the mid-term elections, which will determine hundreds of congressional seats and the the governors of dozens of states, are a “fight for America’s soul” as the gap between rich and poor grows in this country.

If Democrats fail to address concerns, Sharpton said he has not ruled out a run for president in 2008.

A spokesman for evangelical conservatives accused Sharpton of stereotyping Christian conservatives, many of whom agree with black churchgoers on key issues.

“Let’s not play off each other in ways that are based on stereotypes,” said the Rev. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Okay, if I hear the words “Global” and “Warming” used together one more time, I am going to scream!!!! It seems that those words are the national buzz word these days. Here is the truth of the matter: Call it what you want (Global—–Warming – ugh!, Ozone Effect, etc, etc), but the reality is that the Bible speaks of strange weather in the last days. If people would just forget about the Ozone and realize that God is in control of the weather (even my 5 year old knows the verse that says “Even the winds and the waves obey Him” Matthew 8:27). We can control emissions, do away with aerosol cans, and burn clean fuel, but the bottom line remains the same: God is in control of ALL things and nothing we can do will change His perfect plan. Oh, we need to be concerned about warming—the warming of the people who will spend an eternity in hell without Christ. That is the kind of warming that we need to prevent — let God deal with the melting glaciers.

Mountain glaciers are melting faster now than at any time in the past 5,000 years because of an unprecedented period of global warming, a study has found.

Ice cores taken from mountains as far apart as the Andes in South America and the Himalayas in Asia have revealed how climate change is leading to a full-scale retreat of the world’s tropical glaciers.

Scientists have warned that human activities over the past 100 years may have nudged the global climate beyond a critical threshold which could see most of the highest ice caps disappearing within the near future. Melting glaciers in South America and Asia not only contribute to rising sea levels, they are also vital sources of freshwater for many millions of people who live within their range at lower altitudes, the scientists said.

The scientists, led by Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, present three lines of evidence pointing to a dramatic melting of glaciers in both the Andes and the Himalayas: a change in the chemical isotopes of the ice cores, the widespread retreat of glaciers and the uncovering of frozen plants that had been buried for thousands of years.

As I write this, I am sitting in my safe home in small town America. I have never known real war. I have only heard stories and have seen pictures on the news. I have been brought to tears this evening while watching footage of the attack in Gaza. God’s chosen people, the people He loves so much, spend their lives trying to defend the country (and its people) that they are so proud of. Of course, I realize, that the Bible speaks of the unrest in Israel, but it saddens me that the people that God chose to be His favored people dont even recognize His son as the Savior of the world. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be continually in turmoil and in fear for your family. I pray for the people of Israel; I pray that they would come to know Jesus as Savior, because He is surely coming soon.

The incursion came shortly after Palestinian security forces deployed near the Gazan border town of Rafah said they were ordered out by the Israeli military.

Soldiers prepare to enter Gaza (Video: Reuters)

Israeli Air Force planes targeted missiles at three bridges in the central Gaza Strip shortly before midnight Tuesday. After completing the deployment of forces to the area, the army entered “battle regulations” – or the state of preparation to launch an offensive.